When Ofsted asked the students at Heybridge Alternative Provision School for their views, the praise was glowing. One said their time at the Essex pupil referral unit (PRU) "has been a joy". Another even compared it to Harry Potter's fictional school Hogwarts "because if you ask for help it is given".
Executive head teacher Philomena Cozens cites a revised teaching approach as the magic formula behind the PRU's move from a "good" to "outstanding" rating from the inspectorate.
"I wanted to move to a situation where we really focused on young people being able to take five GCSEs, which wasn't the case when I first got here," she says. "So we've increased the number of hours that children attend and ensured it is as much like mainstream schooling as possible in terms of teaching and learning."
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